Guest Daisho2004 Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 OK I just got to watch the HK version the other night and it was way better then "The Departed", after watching it and comparing the (2) movies I don't feel it shoulda received the Oscar for best picture or Director reason being it was a carbine copy of the HK version now don't get me wrong Martin Scorsese is a Great Director but it wasn't like he came up with an original idea and I don't know if he gave any credit to Wai Keung Lau & Alan Mak for there version and if he didn't than shame on him. Synopsis Directed by Andrew Lau and Alan Mak, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a tense thriller featuring Hong Kong superstars Andy Lau and Tony Leung. The film follows the parallel lives of Ming (Lau), a cop who secretly reports to ruthless Triad crime boss Sam (Eric Tsang); and Yan (Leung), an undercover police officer who poses as a Triad member in Sam's gang. For Yan, the years of living in the criminal underworld have taken their toll, and he longs to return to regular police duty. However, the only person who knows Yan's true identity is his mentor Superintendent Wong (Anthony Wong), also the unsuspecting superior of Ming. When Wong's officers come face to face with Sam's gang, both leaders realize there are moles in their midst. Soon Yan and Ming must track each other down, leading to an inevitable confrontation. Unlike many contemporary Hong Kong films, INFERNAL AFFAIRS steers clear of over-the-top action in favor of a more stylized and subdued story that builds on emotional and psychological tension. Leung is riveting as the undercover cop who desperately wants a normal life, while Lau instills his corrupt character with confidence and charm that mask his deep inner conflict. These two stellar turns are ably supported by veteran actors Wong and Tsang, along with Sammi Cheng and Kelly Chen. A huge blockbluster in Asia, INFERNAL AFFAIRS is a landmark of Hong Kong cinema that deserves the same status abroad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Chen Zhen Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 if i remember correctly, when he scorcese accepted one of his awards on oscar night, he gave a nod to internal affairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Markgway Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Yeah, to be fair to Scorcese he's never denied the original film credit. I haven't yet watched The Departed. Partly because I know it'll disappoint me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I didn't watch the Academy Awards so I didn't know if he gave credit where credit was do, if he did than that was the right thing to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest GwaiLoMoFo Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I enjoyed Infernal Affairs more than Departed. I liked the ending of Infernal Affairs more as well. Although The Departed did have some extremely well written dark humor dialog. And all the actors in The Departed all turned in great performances. I just liked the way the story developed better in Infernal Affairs. Having seen Infernal Affairs first also helped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Beat TG Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 I've seen a bit from Departed and all I saw was alot of swearing. I don't get the hype... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jirpy100 Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 The Departed is an exceptional, but different film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JustAFan Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Yeah, to be fair to Scorcese he's never denied the original film credit. I haven't yet watched The Departed. Partly because I know it'll disappoint me. You won't be disappointed. I went to the theaters to see this movie, and thought it was a great movie. All the actors were great in this movie, but the one thing that got be was Mark Walberg-- he didn't belong in the movie. Now, his performance was (next to Jack) the best in the movie, but everytime he was on the screen I kept saying to myself 'that's right he is in this movie'. It wasn't as good as Infernal Affairs. Tony Leung was outstanding in IA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest monk sante Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 OK I just got to watch the HK version the other night and it was way better then "The Departed", after watching it and comparing the (2) movies I don't feel it shoulda received the Oscar for best picture or Director reason being it was a carbine copy of the HK version now don't get me wrong Martin Scorsese is a Great Director but it wasn't like he came up with an original idea and I don't know if he gave any credit to Wai Keung Lau & Alan Mak for there version and if he didn't than shame on him. I agree 100%, he shouldn't have won the award or when he won it, Scorsese should have given the HK people some props for such a well written script. I remember a while back when "the Departed" hit the screens, everyone at work were worshiping Scorsese for this film and I simply replied "yeah that's a remake from a HK film by the name of "Infernal Affairs", the whole room went silent. :lol Hong Kong films RULE IMO!8) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kungfusamurai Posted June 24, 2007 Share Posted June 24, 2007 Scorsese has acknowledged the Departed's source at every award ceremony I've seen him in, so he definitely isn't pretending he wrote the film or came up with the idea. As for the execution of the story line, I prefer the Departed over Infernal Affairs. I think the ending for both films were unsatisfying. But the way the films develop is done much more effectively in The Departed. I found Infernal Affairs padded with a number of unnecessary scenes and events. Also, Infernal Affairs kind of borrows from Hard Boiled, but I don't know if that's acknowledged by the writers of IA. I haven't seen IA3, but between IA and IA2, I liked the latter much better. But as a whole, The Departed just came across less choppy and more polished, the last 15 or 20 minutes notwithstanding. As for it not deserving to win because it was a remake, one should look at the history of Oscar winners to see how many remakes won for best picture. Ben Hur is a prime example. KFS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest froffeecoffee Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Loved both THE DEPARTED and INFERNAL AFFAIRS. Comparing both these is like comparing YOJIMBO and FISTFUL OF DOLLARS. They're totally different takes on the same story. INFERNAL AFFAIRS, the mood was pretty relaxed, stylish and about the narrative. THE DEPARTED was gritty, tough, dirty, and about the characters. For me, Jack Nicholson was a highlight. I usually don't like Mark Wahlberg, I find him to be pretty bland, but in THE DEPARTED he's actually great. From the beginning when THE DEPARTED was announced, Scorsese has been upfront about giving credit to the original source. He's a big fan of HK films from interviews I've read and watched. But, like a lot of Asian movie fans, I was concerned about them messing up another original with a remake that would Americanize what made the source so great in the first place. Fortunately, gangster movies are one of Scorsese's fortes and he exceeded my expectations. So if anyone is going to try and compare both, don't. You'd be doing yourself a disservice. Though I agree, THE DEPARTED ending could have been better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Running Man Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 The Departed is bad. Has to be one one of Scorsese's worst, if not the worst. All it is, is taking IA's story and adding more padding that doesn't lead anywhere. The fact that the movie is more talky also makes people think that it's deeper but a large amount of it doesn't do anything other than just take longer to get to the next part of the story. And the ending is a mess. This is coming from a guy that doesn't think much of IA part one and walked into The Departed ready to like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Well I don't know if any of you seen the Alternate ending in I.A. where Andy Lau's character gets arrested when he gets off the Elevator, I kinda liked that ending better, because he thought he was going to get away with the whole thing. But he was Busted! On another note I also heard Martin Scorsese is thinking of doing a part#2 to his version starring Al Pacino. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Riceboy2000 Posted June 25, 2007 Share Posted June 25, 2007 Kind of annoying that IA was announced as a film from Japan instead of HK at the oscars and now some reviews I notice also state the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest HungKuen Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 Kind of annoying that IA was announced as a film from Japan instead of HK at the oscars and now some reviews I notice also state the same. That made me kinda angry actually - it's typical western ignorance. "Chinese, Japanese, Korean - whatever, they all look alike anyway". I love Infernal Affairs, it's one of my all-time favourite movies, so maybe I'm a little biased here, but I thought The Departed was a mess. It's basically the exact same movie as Infernal Affairs, with some actionized (I made that word up) scenes, and some sex. And a much worse ending for that matter. Also, the editing was terrible - I usually love the editing in Scorsese's movies, but here it was really bad. "Continuity" seems to be a word the editor's never heard of. All-in-all, I'd say this is one of the most pointless remakes ever. The original is a terrific film, and it's not even old - it was made when, five years ago? Gee. It's all about Americans being too lazy to read subtitles I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Daisho2004 Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 HungKuen, I agree with you there was no need for a remake when this film is only a couple of years old. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest The Running Man Posted July 1, 2007 Share Posted July 1, 2007 Also, the editing was terrible - I usually love the editing in Scorsese's movies, but here it was really bad. "Continuity" seems to be a word the editor's never heard of. The editor of that movie has been the editor of almost all of Scorsese's movies. If you actually look at a lot of the editing in many of his films, there are tons of continuity errors. But yeah, I agree the editing here was worse than usual. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stormybman Posted July 4, 2007 Share Posted July 4, 2007 The Departed sucked a#$!!! IA was a much better film, and the performances of Tony Leung and Andy Lau rivals anything Hollywood has put out in the last 10yrs., Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington aside. The story is strictly eastern in nature simply knowing the history of the Triads and the influences they have on modern society and goverment. In the U.S., we like to pretend organized crime doesn't have the serious impact on daily society as it does, and that's hypocritical. This is evidenced everytime a boxing match goes wrong, people say, "oh it's fixed!", and go on about their lives. No one ever says organized crime fixed the local elections, or National elections, oh no, that's ridiculous!! Police corruption, drug dealing, fixed elections, ghost payrolls, organized crime has it's greedy fingers in all walks of our society. Until we ackknoledge the truth a film like The Departed cannot be taken seriously enough to qualify as something we can relate to in the U.S. Even the Godfather is thought of as classic "story telling", however, mixed with a great deal of coincidently realistic material and events. In IA, the audience was placed in a position to truly care for Tony Leung's character, who expressed a tremendous range of emotions. Leonardo's character seemed a step away from being wired at 100% all the time, and he was quite edgy. Infernal Affairs was clearly a better film and had it never existed, and The Departed come along on it's own, it would've been a really good crime thriller. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest godzillakungfu Posted July 8, 2007 Share Posted July 8, 2007 I agree it wasn't one of Scor's best. I hate to say it but, it was a pity Academy Award. They do that here because, there is to much politics. It is why I look on the net to see who won. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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